One of the joys of my job is meeting inspirational people who provide valuable help and support for others. At Sainsbury’s in Stewarton, I met representatives from the charity “Memories are Better Than Dreams”, who is their “Local Charity of the Year”. Sarah Lynes and Aileen Crichton work in palliative care in Crosshouse hospital and started the charity after being contacted by parents who hadn’t been able to afford a headstone for their child. They have progressed to providing special events/activities that meet the wishes of children and provide lasting family memories. I can only imagine that this work is so rewarding but also sometimes harrowing as well.

Given the committee all work fulltime, any additional volunteer help would be greatly assisted. It may be for example you can provide help with their website rather than being part of the other activities. They can be contacted on Facebook or my office would be willing to co-ordinate any enquiries. Once again, a big well done to the group and to all the others who have contributed to the fundraising activities over the years.

Recess Activities

Again, I am using a recess from Westminster to enable me to be out and about locally. As well as working in my office when I can I have managed to attend the official opening of Bonnyton Thistle’s Townholm facility. That same day I was then hot footing it to Newmilns Food Festival which had another fantastic turnout.

I popped in to a meeting of Pubwatch – a collaboration of 11 pubs in Kilmarnock who work together on initiates and information sharing to make our pubs, clubs (and streets) safer and more enjoyable. What shone through more than anything to me was their love and passion for the town. They are also as a collective organising the next Killie Halloween weekend event which will be great, and are already working on K-Fest 2019. Further examples of these publicans and establishments going above and beyond is the defibrillator initiative from Brass and Granite, who have managed to raise money and provide defibrillators for some local schools. Meanwhile the Rock Hard Diner have been organising clothes and toiletries collections for the homeless. Any donations gratefully accepted.

At Pubwatch, I discussed an initiative I will be working with them on – “Parliament in the Pub”. I will be hosting open surgeries, within a number of the pubs on a monthly or so basis. The idea being to be visible and available for a chat in a relaxed setting. They do say politics is one of the matters not to be discussed in pubs so we will see how this progresses. My first venture will be in First Edition, with a date still to be confirmed.

I hosted a “supermarket surgery” in Stewarton, another venture to be available in a public setting. One I will be repeating as it was an enjoyable experience.

I also made the unveiling of the “Trust in Killie” History board a Rugby Park. An enjoyable day that happened to coincide with that last minute winner from Stuart Findlay.